Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded on a firm note throughout the day and ended with gain of more than eight tenth of a percent. Last hour of buying helped benchmarks snap six days losing streak with Nifty surpassing 10,200 mark.  Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start and traded in fine fettle in early deals as traders opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. The sentiments were upbeat with Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that India’s economy has bottomed out and is on the rise again. He also said that the country’s economy had witnessed slow growth because of decline in private investment and other factors. He added that this has all started changing and investment cycle has turned. Some support also came with report highlighting that the government is committed to bringing down fiscal deficit in the medium term. The government in its budget last month announced a fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of the gross domestic product for 2018-19 fiscal year starting April, higher than its previous target of 3.0%.

Meanwhile, sentiments also remained upbeat with report that the Indian government reiterated its pitch for a sovereign rating upgrade to Fitch, citing strong macro-economic fundamentals. A team of finance ministry officials led by economic affairs secretary Subhas Chandra Garg, chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian and principal economic advisor Sanjeev Sanyal made a pitch to Thomas Rookmaaker, director, sovereign ratings at Fitch on Wednesday. Additionally, the government has sought Parliament’s nod for additional cash spending of Rs 85,315.30 crore in the current fiscal, of which 70 percent is earmarked to compensate states for revenue loss on account of GST roll out. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal moved the fourth batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2017-18 in the Lok Sabha.

The street shrugged off Telugu Desam Party’s decision to pull out two of its central ministers, amid the growing strain in ties between his TDP and the BJP over alleged neglect of the state in the Union budget.  The investors also paid no heed to IMF Chief Christine Lagarde’s warning that a trade war US President Donald Trump apparently intends to provoke with tariffs on steel and aluminium would snuff out global growth. The head added that if international trade is called into question by these types of measures, it will be a transmission channel for a drop in growth, a drop in trade and it will be fearsome.

On the global front, Asian markets closed in green. China’s exports unexpectedly surged at the fastest pace in three years in February, suggesting its economic growth remains resilient even as trade relations with the United States rapidly deteriorate. The European markets were trading mostly in green as deal-making gathered pace and fears of a trade war faded, although some disappointing earnings updates weighed. A data showed that weaker foreign demand drove a bigger than expected drop in German industrial orders in January, suggesting that busy factories in Europe’s largest economy could shift into a lower gear in the coming months.

The BSE Sensex ended at 33321.26, up by 288.17 points or 0.87% after trading in a range of 33037.48 and 33439.97. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.53%, while Small cap index was up by 0.54%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.37%, Realty up by 1.29%, Energy up by 1.23%, Consumer Disc up by 1.11% and Auto up by 1.02%, while Telecom down by 0.36%, Metal down by 0.35%, Healthcare down by 0.32%, FMCG down by 0.24% and Basic Materials down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 4.09%, ICICI Bank up by 3.56%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 3.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.71% and Reliance Industries up by 2.13%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.30%, Tata Steel down by 1.85%, Yes Bank down by 1.52%, TCS down by 1.07% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.73% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, highlighting structural reform, improving economic prospects and fiscal discipline, the government has made strong pitch for sovereign ratings upgrade to global rating agency Fitch, which has kept the country’s ratings unchanged for more than 11 years.

The government has assured the rating agency that they will stick to the fiscal consolidation path and will lower the fiscal deficit to 3% of the GDP by 2020-21, noting that the current fiscal deficit target slippage was due to Goods and Services Tax (GST) as just 11 months of GST revenues accruing to the government instead of full 12 months. Further, the government expressed confident saying that the new indirect tax regime has almost stabilized and revenue collection will rise in the next 7-8 months, after e-way bill and invoice matching starts.

The government also assured Fitch that the country’s debt to GDP ratio will come down to 40 percent in the next few years and added that they will introduce amendments to the FRBM Act in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament, specifying the consolidation road map. According to the road map, the fiscal deficit will be lowered to 3.3% in the next fiscal, to 3.1% in 2019-20 and 3% by 2020-21. Besides, Fitch had last upgraded India’s sovereign rating from BB+ to BBB- with stable outlook on August 1, 2006 and is due for an annual review in a couple of months.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10236.35, up by 82.15 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 10146.40 and 10270.35. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 4.05%, ICICI Bank up by 3.49%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 3.17%, Reliance Industries up by 2.55% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.29%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.83%, Tata Steel down by 1.81%, Yes Bank down by 1.22%, Hindalco down by 1.11% and Tata Motors down by 0.86% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 9.44 points or 0.13% to 7,167.28, France’s CAC increased 23.9 points or 0.46% to 5,211.73, while Germany’s DAX decreased 21.69 points or 0.18% to 12,223.67.

Asian markets closed in green on Thursday after the White House indicated that some countries could be exempt from President Donald Trump's planned tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Better-than-expected economic data from China and Japan also offered some support.  Japanese shares ended higher on hopes the impending US tariffs on steel and aluminium will be milder than previously thought, but the market pared gains as caution ruled ahead of the formal announcement from Washington. Japan’s revised GDP data showed the economy grew an annualised 1.6 percent, more than the initial estimate of 0.5 percent, in the last quarter of 2017, due to an upward revision of capital expenditure and inventory. Further, Chinese stocks ended higher after official data showed China's exports grew at a faster-than-expected pace in February. China's exports jumped 44.5 percent year-over-year in February in dollar terms, much faster than the 11.0 percent rise economists had forecast. Imports climbed 6.3 percent from a year ago, slower than the expected growth of 8.0 percent. The trade surplus totaled $33.74 billion, in contrast to the expected deficit of $5.7 billion.